Latham, Mark – WATERLOO

(Warhammer Historical). 288 pages,

colour, hardback. Q ref and roster

sheets (these are also available online

as downloads).

I have to admit to being a sucker for glossy

‘coffee table’ rules, liberally laced with what

my friend Steve calls ‘wargames porn’. So,

when Warhammer Historical announced they

were to ‘do’ the Napoleonic Wars – focussing

on my all-time fave battle - I looked at the

sample pages online and thought, ‘nice. Just

like the movie’. Then I saw the £36 price tag

and decided against. However, now reduced to £18, I elected to take the plunge and indulge

my book collecting frenzy.

Ok, the rules. These are set at ‘brigade’ level, one ‘company’ of six figures firing one dice.

Indeed, little of the book is the rules themselves, so they’re aimed at the fast-play ‘big

battalions’ end of the market, something I’d love to do when I win the lottery. They’ll work

well enough for all scales, but 15mm and smaller gamers will (no doubt) already have faves

they’re wedded to. With ‘Waterloo’ one could have fun in an evening with a small army of

five-six units, and as with all Warhammer product the mechanics will be fairly familiar,

which is not bad thing. Units react and move by ‘Tactical Points’ (i.e. actions) per turn; and

unit and general officers have ‘Strategy Points’ they can similarly expend once per game.

Beware – these are point costed, so use your Major Sharpes judiciously. Mr Latham and his

team have not gone overboard on detail, taking the ‘Black Powder’ approach of optional mix

‘n’ match add-on ‘special rules’. There’s a campaign section and - great idea this – a siege

bit. Illustrative examples are provided throughout and I learnt a new word, ‘orthogonal’.

Criticisms? No, not really, just comments. Not being one of nature’s great painters I’d have

dropped section like the ‘Diorama Showcase’ and ‘Dream Battlefields’ to include some

Austrian and Russian lists – though the painting techniques pages are great for newbies. The

lists and uniform guides are clear, and the scenario section – both generic and from the

Waterloo campaign itself – is scholarly in its brevity and designed to give the flavour of the

period. The artillery rules seem a little over detailed to me, and I’d have liked a little more on

the differences between light and heavy cavalry on the charts, but ‘local modifications’

should be a breeze. The siege and ‘defensible terrain’ sections has certainly got me thinking a

Hougoumont style fight would make a fun game, rather than the usual ‘open battle’.

WH decided – perhaps wisely – rather than try to cover the whole Napoleonic era in depth to

focus on the final battle – a bit like their Trafalgar set (whose cover artwork is surprisingly

reproduced in the chronology section). That said there are Peninsular lists, and with budget

plastic 28mm Brits and Frenchies already available I guess this makes sense. With the 200th

anniversary of Leipzig coming up - and no Austrians and Russians – they’ve hinted there’ll

be a supplement at some point. The tone of ‘Waterloo’ seems aimed at beginners (read

‘converts from 40K and Warhammer Fantasy). Indeed, for old ‘veterans’ like me there’s little

to be got from the chronology but I love the contemporary and modern paintings lovingly

reproduced, many in A3. The wargame as art book? You got it! Indeed, the style of many

modern paintings is immediately recognisable to those of us of the Airfix generation who

even today dig Perry and Warlord box-top art. Usually with the Napoleonic wars the focus is

on the ‘Corsican ogre’ as hero, and this set redresses the balance by bigging-up the Iron Duke

and his lads. And why not? ‘The scum of the Earth’? ‘Enlisting for drink?’ He must have

attended my club at least once…

In summary ‘Waterloo’ is an inspirational rule book that tells this old codger everything he

already knows. Comparisons with Foundry’s ‘Napoleon’ and Warlord’s ‘Black Powder’ are

inevitable. It’s a bit like ‘who’s your favourite Spice Girl’? Each is glossy, attractive, and

does the job well – so in the end it’s really a question of personal taste. I’ve got all three on

my shelves to flick through and gain inspiration from. Will I play ‘Waterloo’? Probably not.

Will I gain solace and inspiration from the lavish artwork? Reader, I’m doing it now…